By Ricardo Gonzalez | 06.05.2023 18:09
When I saw this Tamiya kit, I felt like I could do something special by adding aftermarket detail sets and doing a bit of scratch-building. My goal in writing this tutorial is to share with the reader the work I've done, not only in assembling and super-detailing the model but also in showcasing a customization by changing the look proposed by Tamiya.
By Ricardo Gonzalez | 05.05.2020 13:26
I decided to build, superdetail and customize this Tamiya kit, due to this subject beautifulness. A stunning futuristic motorcycle where great part of the engine and other structures are exposed which allow modelers show all those details we spent many hours on without the frustration that later will be hidden under the fairing. Thus, it’s possible to present the built model showing all the work made without having to separate the body to appreciate all the details added during the construction.
By Jose I. Hernandez Diez | 12.13.2017 12:43
Tamiya have been offering high quality motorcycles kits very detailed and good presentation. If you add to this the modern detail sets, the result will be a superb museum piece that will look striking in any showcase, this is the case of the of the Yamaha YZR M-1 (#14104) to which I added several aftermarket. The aim of this article is to share with readers my experience in the construction of this model with these extra sets, so here I will basically refer to their use.
By Ricardo Gonzalez | 11.05.2017 10:40
The Ducatti Panigale is to my liking one of the most spectacular motorcycles of the past decade. Thanks to Tamiya we can have a model of it, both were the reasons why I decided to build it trying to get the most detailed model I could , taking advantage of the fact that as it was a mass production model, it would be possible for me to get a lot of references. Not only I built and superdetailed the model, but also made a slightly and own customized version, a real Panigale, as I would like to have. The aim of this article, is to show with pictures and their comments the work accomplished as a guide and to give ideas of the details that can be added or showing in some cases how to do the different tasks.
By Mario Covalski | 05.01.2017 11:23
The first motorcycle models I built, during the 70s, were in 1/6 scale from Tamiya. The parts were large, but the assembly sequence was simple, almost imitating that of a real vehicle. I was greatly surprised when I started building 1/12 models in the early 80s and discovered that, in many of them, both sub-frames of the chassis had to be painted first and then glued together, with the engine already painted inside. It is something similar to what happens to scale airplane builders, they have to prepare and paint the interior of the cockpit, and then place it between both parts of the fuselage, to finally paint the same, the difference is that in this case, the frame must already be painted.
By Ricardo Gonzalez | 03.20.2017 11:06
By Adie Gerber | 11.01.2016 12:24
This is the Pocher 1/4 Ducati 1299S Panigale. The kit was released in 2015 and reached South Africa in early 2016. I was fortunate to build this one for a friend who collect hi end car models.
By Ricardo Gonzalez | 12.22.2015 13:47
By Antonio Busciglio | 07.28.2015 10:56
This article is about the assembly and detailing of the Tamiya Honda NSR500 from 1984, using the awesome Hobby Design detail set and other aftermarket stuff, such as rivets, bolts heads and so on. The model is a recent release from Tamiya, and the detail of the kit is astonishing. Given the very peculiar characteristic of this motorcycle, as the fuel tank placed below the engine, and the exhausts infront of the driver’s chest, I decided to show the cowling not placed on the chassis.
By Guy Golsteyn | 11.28.2014 10:50
Before opening the box, I advise you to take some time to admire the beautiful artwork decorating the box. True artists produce time after time gorgeous illustrations at the Tamiya factory, reflecting a perfect image of how beautiful a model you will find inside. On condition that you are willing to invest some time and effort of course. And to help you I will try to guide you through the building process to achieve this goal.
By Guy Golsteyn | 10.14.2014 12:21
I intended to build this Ducati almost “out of box”, meaning that I won't execute any sophisticated conversions or intensive super detailing. First of all this kit is already pretty good detailed, in spite of its age, and furthermore it's not a racebike, but a classic streetbike from the ‘80s that has never heard of carbon fiber or electronic devices. The only exceptions I will allow myself are the wiring which I will replace by thinner wires to add some realism, and the joint screws at the cowling exterior...
By Guy Golsteyn | 07.23.2014 12:22
A year or so ago, Tamiya re-issued this famous 1:6 kit. Before that re-issue it used to be a very expensive and rare kit, now it suddenly became very reachable and looking at my Honda CB750 history I just had to get this one. Today has come the day that I decided to start building it. It wasn't an easy decision, because building the kit also means losing it as a kit. But ok, kits are designed to be built and not to be collected...
By Guy Golsteyn | 06.30.2014 11:29
I have a strong nostalgic band with this bike. My first motorized vehicle was a Honda MT50, the trial version of a Honda MB50, which was more like a street machine. Back in 1979 I hesitated for a while about which model I would purchase, but since my brother went for the MT I decided to do the same.
By Martin Klein | 06.17.2014 11:20
The Honda RC166 is the first historical racing bike of the 60’s that Tamiya ever made. This era of racing was full of technical innovations and so the RC166 is a 250cc 6 cylinder 4 stroke engine with 4 valves per cylinder and double overhead camshafts.
By Mario Covalski | 05.29.2014 11:57
For the modelers like me, that build several kits annually, few new kits during several years is frustrating. Wishing to find more fun I couldn't see other way that modifying an existent model. In this article I show my customized Katana. As I would like my 1/1 Katana were, if I had one of course. (the civilian vehicles allow us certain artistic licenses). To simplify things, I worked with simple modifications, that anybody can realize, or take the idea for an own project. I decided that it had to be a quick and funny project, not an incredible one but tedious and endless.
By Ricardo Gonzalez | 05.23.2014 13:18
This article aims at sharing my experience building this model. Nowadays, there’s a lot of aftermarket available that can be added to a Tamiya Yamaha, but this also involves time and higher level of skill. The model shown here looks detailed although it received additions that a not very experienced modeler could achieve. Along this article I’ll only explained what is considered as “extra details”. The rest will be found in the instructions indications.
By Mario Covalski | 05.07.2014 12:00
By Mario Covalski | 04.08.2014 11:25
One of the biggest challenges for a modeler who builds motorcycles in 1/12 scale, is to modify a wire wheel and make it look realistic; specially without having to buy an aftermarket kit. Anyway, there are no kits for this kind of modification (except for one of the Acu-stion for the Tamiya XV1600 kit), so it's not possible to get one. So any modeler attempting to do this task must rely in his/her ability in order, to get a good result.
By Martin Klein | 04.01.2014 12:14
After building the Tamiya Honda RC166 I decided that this great bike needed company in my showcase and took out the Gunze (Mr. Hobby) Honda RC110 kit already waiting for a long time in my stash. This kit is sold out at the hobby shops but still available from time to time at a well known internet auction platform.
By Mario Covalski | 12.10.2013 10:26
For those who are motorcycles´ lovers, every Tamiya´s new release is full of expectations …and excitement. The Hayabusa Yoshimura couldn't be the exception, after the success, her "sister", the factory version, had. The goal of this article, is to make comments step by step with photos of the parts and assemblies about some modifications or additions which I'm sure, will be useful, specially for beginners.
By Roman Kepinski | 12.01.2013 11:00
Yoshimura designed and produced an "up grade" kit for the Suzuki Hayabusa. I am not going to tell the whole story about this incredible bike (everyone can read it on the Yoshimura web page) ...just how my experience went with assembly and detailing of this Tamiya model. Tamiya and quality are synonymous, you hear it everywhere...it is the same with this model. My first step was checking out the Yoshimura web site for ideas, reference, and suggestions on how I might want to build "MY" X1 - on one hand I was fascinating with the X1R, on the other I wanted a street bike...resulting in this custom, "MY" X1.
By Mario Covalski | 11.16.2013 10:52
Modeler Site’s editorials are in general very well received and read by modelers, but the one issued last month ( Go on buying... though…) seemed to bring a greater effect than the usual, because of the incredible number of emails sent by readers, making comments about it.
By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes | 10.11.2013 10:18
There are many Harley Davidson kits available from different manufacturers, but without any doubt Tamiya have produced the best versions. I refer to model kits, comprising a lot of parts, which were developed with a high level of detail and match the original models. And if that were not enough, in 1/6 scale. The Tamiya's Harley(s) were born at the beginning of the 70s, time when large scale models were preferred by hobby modelers. Nevertheless, the design of those models was adapted to the demands and techniques of those times and of course, they are completely different from nowadays assembling techniques. This means that today modelers will have to face certain obstacles at the time of giving the model a realistic look.
By Gennaro Zappa | 09.13.2013 11:50
Kawasaki had high expectations for 2006 Season. The new Ninja ZX-RR was a motorcycle that had nothing to do with its predecessor. New inline four cylinder engine, higher speed, and torque. New clutch re-designed as well as the gear box to provide more power.
By Nicolas Perez Fiorentini | 08.02.2013 11:07
The model I built represents the motorcycle in the first five races of the 2004 championship. In this model I added all possible scratchbuilt details, no etched parts, resin ones…etc. In the article below, you will have a clear explanation about how I made and added every new part, cable, electronic box,…etc
By Keiichi Aoki | 05.27.2013 11:29
Usually, when we build a scale model of a motorcycle with wheels with wire spokes, we spend much time in details and painting, however, all this work lose realism if we don’t represent the wheels in a realistic way that in general have plastic spokes. Besides, there are other important areas that catch our attention when we appreciate the model once finished.
By Martin Ulreich | 05.23.2013 10:19
This winter I tried to do a row of 3 RC211V bikes, one of them detailed with the corresponding top studio kit and some more stuff. There was some learning curve associated to all that detail, at least for me, but also a lots of fun. A big issue was the handling of Alclad treated parts, it is very easy to damage the metallic look of the paint. In the meantime Alclad offers a water based sealer that shows promising results and should help here.
By Giulio Marrucci | 04.02.2013 10:24
The old ESCI kit reissued by Italeri. Good size and detail. The moulding quality is not so bad considering the age. You need a lot of sandpaper to correctly shape almost the entire model. Decals: good quality, poor choice. Painted with model master. Wash with Vallejo. Dry brushed with Tamiya Weathering Master and Mr. Hobby powder. Suggestion: pre assemble as much as you can according to the colours and paint/weather the remaining separately. The leather and wooden parts have been painted using Vallejo acrylic. The fabric has been reproduced with tissue paper hardened with diluted white glue.
By Mario Covalski | 03.05.2013 18:35
In 1976 Kawasaki launched the model Z750, a smaller sister to the Z900, adapted to the requirements of the Japanese market.
To my knowledge, the Z900 was an improved copy of the Honda CB750Four and, as it was common to Japanese manufacturers, each new model included several versions in order to cover the requirements of the Japanese police. This model was inspired in a small picture from the '70 decades. the picture was showing a Z750 model, perhaps a 1978 version, for the police, with the color and characteristics of the Japanese Police.
By Mario Covalski | 01.01.2011 19:48
It has been several months now that I wanted to write an article on 1/12 scale motorcycles for beginners, explaining the basic concepts that are taken for granted in the articles on superdetailing. I built my first 1/12 motorcycle fourteen years ago and if you believe that having worked with 1/12 Formula 1 cars will guarantee success… you are wrong.
By Mario Covalski | 04.01.2010 12:15
By Mario Covalski | 02.01.2010 10:50
By Mario Covalski | 02.01.2010 10:48
By Joel Rydh | 09.01.2007 11:46
In recent years we’ve seen more and more of interesting and colourful liveries in MotoGp. In my opinion this is much welcomed as it is something that has been standard in the 250 series for quite some time. The teams behind Valentino Rossi has been ahead of their time in many areas, including art work, racing remembered liveries as the 2001 Mugello and 2003 Valencia ones. In 2004 I think we saw a break through with full season liveries of this kind, when the Pramac Ducati team entered this lovely magnolia scheme.
By Peter Go | 04.01.2005 11:39
By Mario Covalski | 11.01.2003 11:54
Sometimes, something particular comes about to those lucky modelers who have been doing scale modeling for many years… to compare between two models built by the same author, but ...20 years back. (My dear friends, believe me, I wish I could be 20 years younger, and not writing this editorial :-).
By Mario Covalski | 05.01.2003 15:20
By Ricardo Dacoba | 05.01.2001 20:56
By Alessandro Prini
By Sasa Jelic from Croatia
By Sasa Jelic from Croatia
By Roman Kepinski
By Mario Covalski
By Nicolas Perez Fiorentini
By Axel Klein
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By Steve Desarzens
By Nicolas Perez Fiorentini
By Mario Covalski
By Gergo Marosi
By Mario Covalski
Looking at racing motorcycles, under the point of view of the real machines, I'm not an expert, that means, I'm not thoroughly informed about world championships, and I'm not a fun of these mechanical wonders as well.....just I feel pleasure when constructing these kits, straight from the box. However, I know that the 211 is a real new, because of its engine, and races won (which I guess this model follows getting with the 2003 version).
By Mario Covalski
By Michael Schneider
Some time ago, Automobilminiaturen offered a wide tire for 1:12 Revell choppers. I intended to use it on a “mean“ Suzuki Hayabusa. The tire wouldn’t fit in the kit rear swing, so I decided to make a one arm swing bar.....
By Mario Covalski
By Roman Kepinski
By Mario Covalski
By Roman Kepinski
By Mario Covalski
By Roman Kepinski
By Nicolas Perez Fiorentini
I wanted to build the “early” version of the M1 2005 which ran the first four races of the 2006 Championship. This version has a completely new cowling, nose, tank, rear cowling, rear fender, etc, and until mid of 2006 there was no transkit. Building this version would allow me to build the 2007 one that used the same cowling for nearly half 2007 season with minor modifications. Studio 27 launched the transkit that captures the lines of the late version of the 2006 model that has the same Tamiya seat and tail and modified tank...
By Edwing E. Merlo Paredes
By Giulio Marrucci
By Gary Smith
By Mario Covalski
By Mario Covalski
By William Chan
By Mario Covalski